


Time and Prophecy

by Cheryl1964



Series: Cycles of Time [1]
Category: Lexx
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-23
Updated: 2013-04-23
Packaged: 2017-12-09 08:06:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheryl1964/pseuds/Cheryl1964
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Last of the Brunnen G dies when the Higgs Boson device implodes He wakes up in The Other Zone where he learns who he really is and the history of the Brunnen G</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Purging

  
_“Kai will be the hand of destruction as Kai was in the past and will be in each cycle of time.”_

  
The words spurred me to consciousness. At first I thought was that I was back on Water, but I could not smell the ocean. Not to mention the LEXX had destroyed Water only minutes after destroying Fire. The décor of the chamber I was in did not match my memories of Water although it seemed vaguely familiar.

  
“You finally decided to wake up I see.” The voice was familiar. I turned my head to find myself staring into familiar hazel eyes. They were my own, but not my face. The man I faced was much older. The thick gray hair streaked with strands of black so deep they seemed blue fell loose around slim shoulders and was longer even than my own. It was like looking in a mirror and seeing my reflection, only as a middle aged man.

  
I stood up and took a moment to survey the chamber “Where am I? The last thing I can clearly remember is laying on my back, thinking to myself not again. It seems I should know this place, and you.”

  
“You are in the Other Zone, and I am Kai. I know it makes no sense to you right now but soon it will. I am you and you are me. I’m here to help you discover who you really are.”

  
“Then I am finally dead?”

  
“You are and you are not. Your physical body is dead. Your spirit and soul have been reunited into one again. Your spirit is attached to your mortal body your soul is something else, but both are indestructible. Your ‘death’ freed this combination of spirit and soul to come her to the Other Zone. Now you must purge yourself before we can proceed.”

  
“Purge myself?” I questioned. I had no idea what he meant by this.

  
“Your spirit has been tainted by the insect essence that enslaved you.” He looked at me for several long minutes. “Well, are you just going to stand there looking like you ran out of protoblood?” He asked.

  
It was as if the word itself was the key that unlocked hell. Protoblood, the substance that I had depended on for ‘life’ for so long, and now it released a flood of memories. The images were overwhelming blood, death and horror surged through my mind. I collapsed to my knees and struggled for control as shame and self-loathing washed over me. I had been responsible for so much pain. How many lives did I destroy over the centuries?

  
“No you must let them come, Kai. You must face all those who died by your hand. Don’t fight it.” A new voice this time, one I recognized immediately. The voice of Vlad, the Divine Executioner sent to destroy me. The Divine Executioner who would have destroyed me if not for Stanley Tweedle. The last time I faced her it was as a Divine Assassin and fear was just a word I could define. This time it was different, I felt fear add its own crippling force to my already uncontrollable emotions.

  
“Listen to her. It is the process of purging yourself. You must face your victims and accept the death you dealt as weapon of His Shadow. The harder you fight against it, the more painful it will be.” The elder Kai’s voice penetrated my seething emotions. “You are a warrior. A warrior faces both his triumphs and his shame with equal courage, anything less is an insult to those who have gone before. You are also more than just a warrior. Now stop dishonoring yourself, your name and your people and embrace your purging with courage.” The last was said in a sharp tone that allowed no defiance.

  
Once I stopped fighting the memories the emotional turmoil eased. It seemed an eternity passed as the faces came and went leaving me facing one small child. How well I remembered her. I remembered her screams of fear as she watched both of her parents painfully die by my hand. I remembered her screams of pain as my brace tore into her innocent flesh taking her life also. I remembered the order that drove me to such depravity. Not just to kill, but to terrorize and torture a young family of heretics. None were to be spared or shown mercy, not even this small helpless child. She was a part of the most shameful order I ever received in the 2000 years I served His Shadow and yet she stood there and smiled at me.

  
“I cannot tell you that we forgive you because there is nothing to forgive. It was never your choice. It was the orders of His Shadow. I can tell you that we do not blame you.” She stepped closer to me and wound her tiny arms around my neck, “Go forward now and be at peace with yourself, Kai. We will leave you and take with us the shame and guilt. It is not your burden to bear.”

  
I felt peace wash over me I realized that I had not felt ‘clean’ for a very long time. Even though Divine Assassins do not feel as such I realized that we did suffer the weight of our actions, it was just closed off from our minds. At that moment I realized that I was still held in an embrace, not a child’s but a woman’s. I opened my eyes to find Vlad looking down at me with concern. Vlad was displaying concern for me? “Do you understand Kai? They know where the blame lies.”

  
I thought for a moment, “Yes. It was never me who did any of those things. It was His Shadow working through me.” In the same instant I realized that Vlad had been as helpless against her orders as I had been against mine. “I also know that I cannot blame you. You were also a tool of His Shadow.” I was not prepared for Vlad’s smile of understanding. She stood urging me to my feet at the same time. As I stood I noticed many more like the two of us, undead weapons of His Divine Shadow kneeling or laying on the ground writhing in what appeared to be pain.

  
“We must all go through the Purging. Here in this chamber is all the collected emotion; fear, anger, hatred and guilt carried by Assassins and Executioners over the ages.” She pointed to the ceiling of the room which was a swirling mass of energy. “When all have been purged it will go where it belongs, to His Shadow.

  
Just as you as an assassin had to face your victims, so must I face mine. It is my task now to comfort and assist those I hunted to purge and in return gain my own forgiveness. For you it is over, your forgiveness is one step closer to my own freedom. There are more that I must assist before I am ultimately freed. Goodbye Kai.” I felt her lips brush my cheek before she turned and walked away to kneel by another.

  
“I would ask if she poked her victim’s eyes out with that hairdo but yours is not much better nor are the clothes. Both are the mark of a coward.” The elder Kai distastefully nodded towards my now brightly colored Brunnen G attire. “This is the style that was favored by those who lost their way, who welcomed death without a fight. They rejected the honor of being Brunnen G. Only a handful of Newborns who died when Brunnis 2 was destroyed were accepted by their ancestors in The Dream Zone.” The elder Kai was offering me a plain tunic and trousers similar what he was wearing. “Get changed and comb out your hair. Warriors normally wear their hair loose unless they are going into battle. When you are ready, we will begin.”

* * *

**Modern History**

  
The door was enormous and ornately carved. The solid wooden surface was covered with ancient Brunnen-G symbols some I recognized and others were a complete mystery to me.

  
“It is a record of our history from the very moment when we first became aware of ourselves as a people. Look here.” The elder Kai pointed to a symbol that I knew well the Iris, sign of the Divine Order. It appeared again and again in the record almost always alongside a name I recognized, Kai.

  
The elder Kai pointed to the symbol “Here is my story. I was 75 years old when Duha’naur was destroyed. It was a stroke of luck that the insects chose to attack during the Festival of the Time Prophet. Most of the warriors who lived there had left to make the journey to the lands of their birth clans as was the custom, the city was mostly deserted. But the destruction was more than the Brunnen G would tolerate, our blood cried out as a people to fight back. And we entered the war.”

  
I remembered my classes as a child on Brunnis 2. I recited the history every Brunnen G child had learned, “Duha’naur, the political and cultural hub of the Brunnen G warrior caste was attacked and destroyed by the insects just prior to Brunnis entering the insect war. It was the destruction of Duha’naur that finally moved the Council of Matriarchs to enter the war.’ We were taught that Brunnis would have broken out in civil war if they had refused.”

  
“It was war either way. Fight the insects or fight each other. The warriors had been petitioning the council for 25 years to join the war. The artists were arguing for peace and the politicians were sitting on the fence. We knew it was only a matter of time before the insects attacked Brunnis. Many had convinced themselves that if we just kept our heads down the insects would leave us alone. When they attacked Duha’naur it proved that we warriors had been right all long, it also stirred so many people to scream for revenge the council was left with no choice.

  
Warriors left Brunnis and traveled to distant worlds. We brought with us the insect based technology that we had developed. That technology and the fact that we understood the insects turned the tide of the war. 50 years later only a handful of insects survived. Many wanted to declare victory at that point but the warrior caste knew that they would rise again if even one escaped. A handful of ‘romantic fools’ as they were called, set off to hunt them down.

  
Then the last two insects in the Dark Zone were hunted down, one called Gigashadow and a nymph. Those romantic fools almost succeeded in their mission. The young one escaped into the Light Universe. But the Gigashadow was destroyed along with the fractal core that allowed the young one to escape. The cost was high. No warrior who left on that mission ever saw Brunnis again except in the Dream Zone. It was the end of that cycle of time.”

  
“You were one of those romantic fools? You died hunting them down.”

  
“Yes and no I was one of the ‘romantic fools’ but I died destroying the fractal core the young one escaped through. When I destroyed the portal The Gigashadow was attempting to follow its offspring into the Light Universe. I destroyed the fractal core, The Gigashadow and myself. I managed to send a message back to Brunnis telling of the existence of this fractal core seconds before my ‘death’. It is why the scientists on Brunnis were able locate one and make plans to escape when it became apparent that our world was dying.” The Elder Kai closed his eyes for a moment remembering. “I destroyed the Gigashadow but I also gave the scientists the information that led our people into the Light Universe where the struggle would continue.”  
He pointed to another spot in the history “That cycle is your story, the destruction of our people after they had totally forgotten who they were. All except for a handful of Newborns had turned out to be completely worthless. The ‘leader’ of these young people was the rebellious young Kai, who dared to venture beyond the planetary shields. Who tried in vain to rally a bunch of decrepit old farts to find the backbone that they had lost. What were you, 35 years old? None of you were over 40. Even before the Scientists unlocked the secret of immortality the average life span of a Brunnen G was 200 years. You were children dying like blooded warriors while your elders died like cowards. This cycle has finally ended.”

  
I pointed at the Iris that appeared after the end of my own story. “The Divine Order remains? Why?”

  
The Elder Kai thought to himself how naïve are the young. “The Divine Order in some form has been there since the beginning of time, just as the Brunnen G have been there since the beginning of time. The names may change over the eons but it is still the same two entities battling for the universe. You are the last of the first bloodline to face the insects. You also allowed the insects to escape ultimate destruction. When the Light Universe was destroyed a presence came through the portal with the LEXX. It was called Mantrid. This is the story yet to be recorded, the next battle between mankind and insect. The struggle now continues. That is for the future, for now you must face your past. She is waiting for you inside. The huge door slowly swung open.


	2. History of the Brunnen G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Time Prophet Introduces Kai to his other incarnations

  
I recognized the crone at once. She sat there perched on her pedestal peering down at me as she had all those centuries ago, The Time Prophet.

  
“Hello Kai. It is time for you to learn about the past and the war that has touched humanity since history began. Now come and sit, my tale will satisfy your curiosity.” She gestured towards a couch. I settled back into the thickly padded cushions and waited for her to begin.

  
“First you must understand that energy is the creator of life. All life in the universe comes from energy. It was there in the beginning, and it will be there when time finally ends. Then once again energy will bring forth life and time will begin again. There are some ‘energies’ that are sentient, they exist throughout time in all of its cycles. Mortals often call these entities gods. It is two of these ‘gods’ that concern us now.

  
They are called Echias, an ‘orderly’ masculine energy and Rakais, an ‘emotional’ feminine energy. These two gods created life each in their own way. Echias is the god of order, he plans everything with with no room for variation. The life Echias produced was the race you know as insects. Rakais is the goddess of chaos, she creates life and allows it to develop through chaos and uncertainty. The life produced by Rakais was Mankind.

  
In the beginning when the two races were young, there was no strife. Each co-existed peacefully with the other, evolving and populating the universe, living side by side inhabiting the same worlds. But in time mankind’s chaotic nature began to infuriate Echias. Echias had a vision of order for the universe, but mankind was ruled by passions and cared nothing for order. Eventually Echias decided that the only option for order was the destruction of mankind. He viewed them as a cancerous infestation that he would exterminate. Rakais on the other hand refused to micromanage her creation. The random nature of humanity meant that it would breed out what was undesirable over time, and with each generation it would grow stronger. Mankind was created to adapt to change in a way the orderly insects never could. However when Echias began his campaign to exterminate mankind, it upset the balance of her creation. Mankind was dying faster than it could adapt. She had to intercede.

  
You must now walk the path of time so that you can understand. You must walk through each cycle time that has passed to gain understanding.”

  
She pointed to an old man hobbling toward us from the shadows. He was me again, this time ancient. The slim body was frail and bent with age. Even with the assistance of his staff he seemed in danger of toppling over flat on his face. “I am First Kai, walk the first cycle of time.”

  
The old man touched my arm and suddenly I was there in his body, his life. His memories and thoughts were my own….

  
**The First Cycle**   


  
Every ten years the nymphs would make their way to the surface to mate. Every 10 years we got to put up with the constant screeching of insect mating calls for a month, day and night. The male would screech and the female would scream in response. Just a few minutes of peace, that was all I wanted. I just wanted to peacefully wallow in my own misery and embarrassment.

  
I was angry. Angry that the family of Lynna, the one woman I felt anything for had tossed me out like a leper when I dared to present myself as a suitor. All because I was not born a landowner or an artist, instead I was the son of Bann. Crazy-assed Bann, running around calling himself High Priest of some Goddess no one believed in and to make matters worse naming me after her.

  
My entire childhood was spent listening to the taunts of others “Oh look it’s the little goddess Kai” at least until I got big enough to bloody a few noses. A few bloody noses had progressed to some serious injuries over the years. That was why I had been tossed out the door like yesterday’s garbage, everyone was afraid of me. I just did not react well to negative situations, my response was always violence. The actions of Lynna’s father had pushed me to the edge. One more thing would push me over.

  
I had no idea as I entered my shelter that night that I was about to go all the way over the precipice and the victims of my rage would not be human. It would be the barely tolerated (by me at least) Insects.

  
The sun was not yet up but the noise of a woman wailing in grief woke me. I went out to find out what the commotion was. Lynna was holding the wailing woman and attempting to comfort her. They knelt beside the dead body of a man named Torq. The woman was Torq’s mate. His family members were gathered around him singing him along the path to the Dream Zone.

  
The whispers of the gathered crowd told me the story. “A nymph in the village.” “It tried to take a small child from the family shelter.” “Torq was tending the communal fire.” “Torq fought with the nymph.” “The nymph killed Torq and took the child.”  
“Which way?” I questioned. Several fingers pointed toward the southern woods. I grabbed my bow and dagger and set off in that direction. The violence and anger now drove me. We had peacefully existed with the insects since the beginning of time. We had put up with their annoying slime trails. We had put up with their offensive odor. We had put up with their high pitched, earthshaking mating calls. Never had we offered them any violence, but that was about to change. A small child had been dragged from its home and Torq lay dead in the village. There was no love lost between Torq and I, he was one of the worst for taunting me when we were children but he had been human. The insects would pay.

  
It took most of the day for me to track them down. Every so often I could hear the noise of several of the more courageous villagers as they followed in my wake but I was not concerned with them, something inside of me screamed to spill the blood of the insects as they had spilled ours. I have no memory of what happened when I finally came upon what was left of the child, it was as if I were possessed. I only know when the villagers caught up to me I was surrounded by dead insects as I cradled the body of this child and softly sang her along the path to the Dream Zone.

  
When we returned to the village with the body of the child and the carcasses of over a dozen insects I was hailed as a hero. Lynna’s father (The very man who had thrown me out of his home the day before) welcomed me as mate for his daughter. But life changed for us all, we found ourselves at war with the insects. Visitors came to our small village from outlying areas to consult with the ‘Warlord’ as I had come to be known. The eradication of the insects spread from village to village until all humans on our world were united against the insects. It took us 80 years to conquer them. All but a handful were dead. It was not compassion or mercy that kept those few alive, we realized that we could adapt their technology for our own use…

  
I blinked as the chamber came back into focus. “Welcome back Kai.” The time prophet said. You have walked as First Kai and experienced his life. Second Kai comes now.”

  
This Kai was very familiar to me. His appearance was the same as my own only a few years younger perhaps in his early twenties. His walk as he approached was filled with the cockiness of a youth not yet tempered by experience, but there was also a sense of maturity beyond his years.

  
“Echias once again in the second cycle of time stepped up his campaign to destroy mankind, this time with a weapon created simply for that purpose, a massive ship disguised as a comet. Inside this ship thousands of nymphs could be transported in secret.” This Kai told me. “His purpose was revenge for losing that first battle on a world now called Brunnis.” He laid his hand on my shoulder…

  
**Second Cycle**   


  
I wondered if I could live up the responsibility. I was a warrior born of warriors. Both my mother and father were descended from a long line of warriors. In Mother’s case my bloodline went back to Kai, the first warlord of Brunnis. Only a handful of warriors over the years had lived as long as he had. He was rumored to have been over 240 years old when he walked the path to the Dream Zone. I now carried his name. On my father’s side my bloodline went all the way back to Torq, the first human known to have been killed by an insect. Perhaps that explained my precociousness.

  
Last night it was announced to the Matriarch Council that I had been appointed First Unit Leader. I was the youngest person ever to hold the position First Leader in any warrior group. It was even more astounding that I had had been given the honor in the newly created Dragon Fighter program.

  
Then there was Arrana’s announcement. It still felt strange to think I was mated to this woman. Most people thought our joining was political. Arrana’s bloodline was Seer and not Warrior, the truth is we were in love. Young, impetuous and in love, and as a result Arrana carried my child. I was truly happy with the way my life was turning out. I was 25 Arrana was only a year older. 25 was young for a Brunnen G to mate, most are in their late 30’s before they decide to settle down. I saw no reason to wait Arrana was the woman who held the other half of my soul. I had a status of my own now. It’s what Arrana deserved, to be known as Kai’s mate instead of my parents daughter-in-law. I took a moment to press a tender kiss to her temple before rising to face the day.

  
Can anything be more boring than a mission briefing? The watch commander was rattling off figures and statics from frontier scans in a voice so dry he sounded like an automaton. I stifled a yawn. “Perhaps Kai, you should try actually sleeping when you retire.” The watch commander commented. The other members of the unit laughed good naturedly at my expense. I did not begrudge them their mirth, I had often joined the teasing of newly mated compatriots when they turned up bleary eyed from lack of sleep. We all settled back down and the watch commander continued droning on with his statistics and I endeavored to control my yawning.

  
We were all excited as we left the mission briefing. Today for the first time we would take these dragon fighters out on patrol. It had taken the scientists years to figure out how to grow these weapons using the insect technology but they had done it. We had been flying practice missions on Brunnis for some time now. The older generation of fighters were now the property of the Planetary Defense Force, I was a part of the select group who would defend our frontier. However before we could launch, there were the ceremonial obligations to take care of.

  
We all marched out to the line of fighters, each of us laid our palm on our own fighter. The fighter’s were grown using insect technology and were designed to respond only to the man who held its key. There were 100 warriors in the Dragon Fighter program. There were three 30 man units and 10 stand ins. The key was very complicated, a combination of Insect technology and my DNA. My fighter would respond only to me and so on. I felt the weapon recognize me as its master, it powered up.  
At least the pomp and circumstance was short, even with the politician’s speeches it was over in an hour. Now it was time for whatever prayers needed to be made. At least we did not have to go through prayers for every so called deity. Each family would offer prayers with their own. Arrana and my parents approached accompanying them was an older woman who was obviously a priestess or cleric. My family did not worship any deities so her presence was more than passing strange.

  
“I must speak with you privately Kai,” she bowed to me remaining bent at the waist as I shoo’ed Arrana and my parents off to give us a few moments. Once we were alone she straightened and spoke. “Deities choose us, it does not matter if we believe in them or not. Your bloodline is dedicated to Rakais. You like Warlord Kai long ago have been chosen by her. The choice is yours, be her weapon or turn your back on her. If you choose to fill your destiny your people will survive and your bloodline will survive. Choose to turn your back and your people will die. They will become the slaves of the enemy you hate above all else. Your mate will die and your child will never draw breath. The choice is to protect yourself or to protect those you love. You will know when the time comes to make that choice.” She bowed again and walked away. I simply shook my head and motioned my family back over.

  
And now we said our farewells. This mission would last 48 hours. The 30 of us in my unit would patrol the perimeter of our solar system before returning. When we returned, the next unit would go out while we rested. And then the third unit would go. The cycle had been planned out for patrol for two days and then 4 days down time. I gave Arrana one last kiss and then climbed into my fighter.

  
I had been bored silly within an hour. Now 26 hours into the mission and I think I could have identified each individual speck of space dust in my sector. The most exciting thing that had happened was a comet hurtling by just beyond the perimeter.  
“Kai, check your view screen. You need to see what I’m seeing right now” The voice belonged to Jute. Jute was from the southern continent. He was a perfect product of his environment. Although I was tall (over 6 foot) for someone whose ancestors came from the northern continent, Jute towered over me at just under 7 feet tall. He was also powerfully built and thickly muscled from living so closely to the Gravity Desert, my own clan was more wiry than muscular. He had the dark skin of those who lived under the most powerful rays of the Brunnis sun. Our friendship had developed when we were still cadets at the guild school. “You are not going to like it.” He added.

  
I flipped my screen over to his frequency and could not prevent the shudder that ran down my spine or the hiss of disgust that left my lips. Nymphs. Insects. All of my life I had hated insects. My irrational reaction to insects had almost gotten me kicked out of the guild academy, until my mother had reminded them that The Warlord Kai we were descended from also carried an irrational hatred of insects. I took a deep breath mastering myself. I was a warrior after all. “This is not just a single lone nymph, they are gathering here. If they are gathering it’s for one reason only. How long would it take you to reach Brunnis?” I queried.

  
“At least ten hours, I’m pretty far out. I don’t think they saw me. Right now I’m in an orbit around R2 keeping it between me and them. You should have my co-ordinates, I’ll keep my head down until you get here.”

  
“Keep your head down but I’m not coming. Five of us will continue to patrol here. You are in charge of the rest of the unit. Your position is remote. I don’t like the idea of splitting the unit, but I like the idea of our entire unit being ten hours away from Brunnis even less.” I flipped my screen back over to check my own sensors. I was surprised to see the comet from earlier back on my screen and headed my way! Math was never my strong suit, but even I knew the sum of two and two is four. A comet with an unnatural flight path and over 100 nymphs gathered on the border of our space, it was an impending attack.  
“Jute, as soon as the rest of the fighters get there I want you all standing by on the far side of R2, that way the moon will keep you hidden from them. Unless they attempt to invade our space wait for reinforcements from Brunnis. I have a feeling that things are about to get rather hot on my side of the system too. That comet I reported early this morning is back and about to enter our star system on an intercept course with Brunnis. I already confirmed command is monitoring so they know the situation. They will send reinforcements to you first as you are facing the identified threat.”

  
I studied my view screen trying to discover something about this ‘comet’. I pulled up the tactical display the other fighters were maneuvering to surround it at a distance. Close enough to scan but hopefully out of range of any surprises it may be carrying.

  
“Blessed shit! Kai we’ve got one hell of a problem here. This portal just opened and nymphs are pouring out of this thing. I can’t even count them!” Denon’s voice was panicked.

  
“Unit 2 is diverting to your location Kai. Do not engage if you can avoid it. Unit 3 is scrambling now and will be off the ground in 15 minutes to reinforce Jute.” The Watch Commander’s voice advised.

  
I could see the cloud of nymphs now too “Command I suggest you call in the ground force fighters too, There’s too many of them for us to get them all.” My voice was calm. The old woman’s words came back to me it was my choice to protect myself or those I loved. Even with every fighter combined, we were already outnumbered and there seemed to be no end to the line of nymphs pouring out of this ship. The only chance we had was to prevent this transport from disgorging any more of its obscene cargo. I made my decision. I calculated how long it would take for my fighter to reach the portal and laid in my course. I thought once more of Arrana and our unborn child and I set the self destruct timer…

 

“Two cycles you have walked and now you know the history of this ancient but on going battle. Echias and Rakais have been at this since the beginning. The war continues and each side improves its weapons with each cycle.” The Time Prophet nodded at the Kai who had been with me when I woke up. “You already know Third Kai”

  
“I must walk your path now also?” I questioned.

  
“Only a small part of it, you know my story well. The teachers of Brunnis 2 were very thorough in relating what happened during the Insect War. My purpose was served after the war was over.” He now touched my arm…

  
**The Final Walk**   


  
At my birth my mother was convinced that her son was destined for greatness, she was still convinced 127 years later. I was not. Great feats are the forte of the young and youth was a distant memory for me, I was on the downhill slide into old age. I thought of my mother, still a force to be reckoned with at 175 years old.

  
The Matriarch Council had overwhelmingly declared victory against the insects. Only the Warrior delegates had objected. Whether it was because of common sense or the prophecy I did not know, but I did know that the Insect Order remained and that it would rise again to threaten us. The prophecy was the basis of my mother’s unshakeable faith in me:

  
_“Kai will be the hand of destruction as Kai was in the past and will be in each cycle of time.”_   


  
Frankly, Kai was tired of the burden. Kai was tired of people coming up and thanking him for saving them from the Insects when he knew better. Kai was tired of the constant ceremonies and honors. Kai was just damned tired period. The war was not over, we had not won. The insects were regrouping, they would be back. A knock at the door snapped me out of my thoughts.  
The first thing I noticed when I opened the door was her smile. That smile has always been able to make the world right for me. I bowed deeply to her. “Your presence humbles this warrior.” I greeted her formally. Protocol must be followed with the High Warrior Delegate, even if she is your mother.

  
“Kai,” she said pulling me into her arms for a hug. Of course she got to throw protocol out the window. She led me over to the couch and sat pulling me down with her “Come my son, I must tell you what the council has decided. It was a hotly debated topic but the council has voted to stop the patrols. It has been two years since the war was officially declared over. They see no reason to spend more resources on what they call a ‘fool’s errand’ of course the warriors voted to continue patrols and we were accused of being glory hounds. I’m sorry, but Brunnis will no longer take protective measures unless directly threatened.”

  
“So they just intend to sit here with their thumbs up their asses until the insects regroup and come back to finish what they started with the destruction of Duha’naur?!” I blushed as I realized what I had said “Forgive me Mother. In my anger my tongue ran away from me.”

  
“There is no need to forgive you for speaking the truth even if your words were crass. That is exactly what they plan to do. Brunnis will only respond to a direct threat. So our neighbors, those who fought in this war beside us are on their own. Our allies may all be destroyed before the council manages to remove their thumbs from their asses as you so eloquently put it.” She stood, “I must take this news to your father whose reaction I think will mirror your own. I just wanted you to hear it from me.” We walked to the door and I was once again enveloped in a hug, much tighter this time “I love you my son, no mother could be more proud of the life she brought forth than I am.”

  
I read the words I had written:

  
_"I finally managed to sleep peacefully last night, something I have not been able to do in the three weeks since your last visit. I think that perhaps it was the decision that had been reached last night. Seven of us are going to disobey the Councils’s edict. We leave within the hour. We don’t know when we will return, if ever. I apologize for the shame my actions will bring you, but you taught me that shame and honor cannot co-exist. You also taught me that a warrior is nothing without honor. The seven of us are in agreement, honor will not allow us to live in shame by doing nothing._   
_Perhaps we all romanticize what it means to be a warrior, if this is the case then call us a bunch of romantics about to undertake a fool’s errand. We all know that as long as one insect survives they are a threat to us. They will rise again and in the next war, we may not be so fortunate. I know that you must now denounce me publicly or be dishonored yourself by my disobedience._   
_I love you. No son could have been blessed with a mother better than the one I was blessed with,_   
_Kai"_

  
**The Prophecy Explained**   


  
I came back to myself to find each Kai standing there. I had walked in each one of their lives. I knew that we were all connected. We were all individuals each of us had lived in different cycles of time but still somehow connected.

  
First Kai spoke. “We are all the chosen ones of Rakais. Although we all have our own “mortal” spirit, we are one soul that she brings back again and again when Mankind needs us to stand up to the insects. Each time she brings our soul back she refines it to become a better weapon against the Insects. In the First Cycle of time the only thing I had was hatred. It was her first gift.”

  
Second Kai chimed in “I had Hatred but it was not enough in the second cycle. Her gift to me was Self-Sacrifice. I had to be willing to put the welfare of others before my own.

  
Third Kai added. “In the third cycle Hatred and Self-Sacrifice served me well during the Insect War but I had to rebel against authority. Without my rebellion Mankind would have been overrun and wiped out which brings us to you.  
You are Fourth Kai, You also carry Hatred, Self-Sacrifice and Rebellion along with the gifts given to you, Determination and Patience.”

  
First Kai spoke again “I was named Kai by my father in honor of Rakais. Kai is more than just a name it is a word from a language that was long dead even when I was born. There is no word or phrase to accurately define it in modern tongues. The closest edefinition would be “a backlash of anger from Rakais” That is who and what you are Kai.

  
I understood now. In the prophecy that we had each filled in some way over the years, Kai referred to the anger of a goddess. We were simply the weapons that she had used.


End file.
